I Am A Child of God!

There were 14 of us in our family while I was growing up. Sometimes we got attention and sometimes we didn’t. With my dad, you had to have a lighter complexion to get any attention. Even at age four I started to see the favoritism, as he only held certain daughters on his lap. I didn’t get to sit on his lap, or my sisters, with the same complexion as myself. I soon realized to not even try to get too close to him. I started having feelings of dislike towards my father and later a hatred towards him. 

We were migrant workers. My dad had a cruel spirit and always treated us with a form of dislike. Just dealing with ordinary life was hard, but my dad added to that struggle by always yelling at us. I was beginning to think that God really didn’t care about me.

Every Sunday my mom would have Billy Graham on T.V. and I felt like I needed to hear him. I needed a father figure in my life. My brother started going to church and I had seen the change in him, and I wanted that for myself. Hearing Billy Graham every Sunday at home was not enough anymore. I knew there was a greater purpose for my life, so my sister and I went to church with my brother.

That morning the pastor was saying, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16. At that point, I completely gave my life to Jesus and received Him as my Lord and Savior on Easter morning of 1986. He set me free from a life of sin and past hurts. Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Many years passed, and I ended up taking care of my father. Little did he know that the daughter he had mistreated would wind up leading him to Jesus. God had a greater purpose for my life.

Jesus’ desire is that no one perish, but all come to repentance. His sacrificial death on the cross brought freedom for everyone who believes in Him. Have you given your heart to Jesus? If not, consider doing so, that you may experience FREEDOM IN CHRIST.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

Carmen Rivera

La Feria, TX